About that Redskins’ “full house” formation: The Redskins have implemented some different offensive looks to take full advantage of Robert Griffin III’s skill package, and one that they used frequently Sunday employed three guys in the backfield wrapped around RGIII (seen here) — sort of like you’d see in Air Force’s flexbone, for example.

There’s not much film out there to help NFL defenses prepare for that, and Washington even takes it one step further at times lining up a tight end almost directly in front of Griffin, with a running back to his side and another behind him (seen here).

Washington ran a play out of that set eight times in the first three quarters, with only an unforced Alfred Morris fumble resulting in a negative outcome. Every other occurrence saw the Redskins gain four yards or more, with gains of 13, 22 and 23. They also had a 35-yard Griffin-to-Leonard Hankerson TD pass wiped out by a penalty.

The Giants stiffened against the formation in the fourth, stuffing two runs and sacking Griffin off a play-action fake. Still, expect Washington to keep turning to the unique look in the future.

This comparison of the stats of RGIII and Andrew Luck indicates the Redskins apparently run what some might regard as a "dink and dunk" offense

It’s a gross generalization, but Luck plays in a vertical offense while Griffin plays in a horizontal one. Griffin ranks first in completion percentage while Luck ranks 32nd, but that has as much to do with the throws they’re asked to make as each quarterback’s accuracy. Luck‘s average pass attempt has traveled 10.2 yards past the line of scrimmage, the longest average pass distance in the league (this was before “Monday Night Football”; Jay Cutler was second at 9.9 entering the game). Griffin averages 7.9 yards downfield per pass attempt, slightly below the league average of 8.2.

And Luck’s long average pass distance isn’t simply a product of throwing lots of incomplete passes down the field. His average pass distance on completions is 8.6 yards past the line of scrimmage, also highest in the N.F.L. (Cutler was fourth at 8.3 entering Monday night). Griffin’s completions come an average of 5.8 yards from the line of scrimmage, well below the league average of 6.5.

Those numbers agree with Brian Burke’s data at Advanced NFL Stats, which show that Griffin has thrown only 14 percent of his passes 15-plus yards past the line of scrimmage, the lowest rate in the league. Luck has thrown only 11 percent of his passes at or behind the line of scrimmage, while Griffin is in an offense that has let him throw 44 passes at or behind the line, accounting for 23 percent of his attempts. Coach Mike Shanahan and his offensive coordinator, Kyle Shanahan, deserve credit for molding an offense that fits Griffin’s strengths. Unfortunately for Luck, nothing is being made easy for him in Indianapolis.

This comparison of the stats of RGIII and Andrew Luck indicates the Redskins apparently run what some might regard as a "dink and dunk" offense

It’s a gross generalization, but Luck plays in a vertical offense while Griffin plays in a horizontal one. Griffin ranks first in completion percentage while Luck ranks 32nd, but that has as much to do with the throws they’re asked to make as each quarterback’s accuracy. Luck‘s average pass attempt has traveled 10.2 yards past the line of scrimmage, the longest average pass distance in the league (this was before “Monday Night Football”; Jay Cutler was second at 9.9 entering the game). Griffin averages 7.9 yards downfield per pass attempt, slightly below the league average of 8.2.

And Luck’s long average pass distance isn’t simply a product of throwing lots of incomplete passes down the field. His average pass distance on completions is 8.6 yards past the line of scrimmage, also highest in the N.F.L. (Cutler was fourth at 8.3 entering Monday night). Griffin’s completions come an average of 5.8 yards from the line of scrimmage, well below the league average of 6.5.

Those numbers agree with Brian Burke’s data at Advanced NFL Stats, which show that Griffin has thrown only 14 percent of his passes 15-plus yards past the line of scrimmage, the lowest rate in the league. Luck has thrown only 11 percent of his passes at or behind the line of scrimmage, while Griffin is in an offense that has let him throw 44 passes at or behind the line, accounting for 23 percent of his attempts. Coach Mike Shanahan and his offensive coordinator, Kyle Shanahan, deserve credit for molding an offense that fits Griffin’s strengths. Unfortunately for Luck, nothing is being made easy for him in Indianapolis.

This comparison of the stats of RGIII and Andrew Luck indicates the Redskins apparently run what some might regard as a "dink and dunk" offense

It’s a gross generalization, but Luck plays in a vertical offense while Griffin plays in a horizontal one. Griffin ranks first in completion percentage while Luck ranks 32nd, but that has as much to do with the throws they’re asked to make as each quarterback’s accuracy. Luck‘s average pass attempt has traveled 10.2 yards past the line of scrimmage, the longest average pass distance in the league (this was before “Monday Night Football”; Jay Cutler was second at 9.9 entering the game). Griffin averages 7.9 yards downfield per pass attempt, slightly below the league average of 8.2.

And Luck’s long average pass distance isn’t simply a product of throwing lots of incomplete passes down the field. His average pass distance on completions is 8.6 yards past the line of scrimmage, also highest in the N.F.L. (Cutler was fourth at 8.3 entering Monday night). Griffin’s completions come an average of 5.8 yards from the line of scrimmage, well below the league average of 6.5.

Those numbers agree with Brian Burke’s data at Advanced NFL Stats, which show that Griffin has thrown only 14 percent of his passes 15-plus yards past the line of scrimmage, the lowest rate in the league. Luck has thrown only 11 percent of his passes at or behind the line of scrimmage, while Griffin is in an offense that has let him throw 44 passes at or behind the line, accounting for 23 percent of his attempts. Coach Mike Shanahan and his offensive coordinator, Kyle Shanahan, deserve credit for molding an offense that fits Griffin’s strengths. Unfortunately for Luck, nothing is being made easy for him in Indianapolis.

Time to bring out the DB press coverage used in the New England game last year?

the good news is dick lebeau is 14-1 against rookie qb's and RGIII has yet to face a 3-4 defense quite like ours.

the bad news is the steelers practically begged tim tebow to beat them deep in the playoff game and it only took him 10 completions to put up 300+ passing yards, and turn in the best game he will ever have as a pro.

good news is our defense is actually healthier than it was in denver.

bad news is RGIII is a better runner and 10X more accurate than tebow will ever be. he wont need the hand of God to connect on the deep plays if they are there.

lost in the midst of last sundays win and the "dick lebeau sucks, is to old to adapt, and the game has passed him by" fever was him unveiling the dime defense (6 db's) with curtis brown logging his first defensive snaps of his career. i have not yet looked at steelerdepot's defensive participation chart to see how many times it was used, but nedless to say it was likely something the bungles and andy dalton werent prepared for.

so the short answer is- yes, i think we will see tighter coverage off the line of scrimmage.

id like to see clark play troys spot at SS and serve as a spy/rover but that depends on how comfortable the coaches feel with either mundy/allen playing FS.

barring injury, i think its safe to say ike, keenan, clark, harrison, timmons will be the only 5 defenders to play every defensive snap.

The loss doesn't take the shine off the performance of rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III, who was 20-for-28, passing for 258 yards and two touchdowns along with one interception in the loss. He also rushed nine times for 89 yards, and has 227 rushing yards in the Redskins' last two games (1-1).

After the game, Giants defensive end Justin Tuck had this to say about the rookie quarterback.

He takes away from your enthusiasm for the game when you play a play perfectly and he still has the 4.3 speed to outrun guys and make plays. If I was going to run an offense and you asked me if I wanted Vick, Cam or RGIII, I'd take that guy hands down.

Not that Eagles quarterback Michael Vick or Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (both No. 1 overall picks) have shown the same level of success Griffin is having in shorter passes - his lowest one-game completion percentage is 61.8. Even with that, Griffin still leads the NFL heading into Week 8 with 8.47 yards per passing attempt.

In comparison, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is ninth at 7.51.

Griffin also leads the league in completion percentage at 70.4. Not since Patriots QB Tom Brady's MVP season in 2007 has a quarterback led the league in both categories after 16 games.

That's insane. While most rookie quarterbacks look like Matt Cassel most of the time, Griffin appears to be as comfortable as any other non-Chiefs quarterback. While the Redskins have done a great job of putting him into winnable situations, it's scary what he'll be able to do if they decide to take the reins off him and let him chuck 40 times.

No rookie quarterback has ever defeated a Steelers team with Dick LeBeau as its defensive coordinator. This is the most significant challenge he will have faced in that time.

Griffin will bring with him to Pittsburgh something the Steelers didn't have to worry about much against Cincinnati; a dynamic offense.

The Steelers, under defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, have typically been able to suffocate one-dimensional offenses. Cincinnati was living and breathing on its ability to get A.J. Green the ball deep down the field. Upon successfully scheming to take him out of the game (lots of man coverage out of dime packages with deep safety help), the Bengals offense wilted, late in the game in particular.

Griffin doesn't have an A.J. Green-level receiver, but he's playing at a level that makes the Redskins offense extremely difficult to scheme for and is perhaps the most athletic and well-rounded passer in the game.

We're going to break him down a bit more, but be forewarned, this is, skillwise, the best player the Steelers' defense has faced this season.